WALES could become a smoke-free nation within three years after a quest to ban smoking in public places took a major step forward yesterday.

A committee of AMs agreed the nation should quit the habit in all public and work places - a move similar to that now in effect in Ireland. Members of the cross-party Committee on Smoking in Public Places believe the risk of passive smoking to Wales' health is greater than that posed by asbestos. Val Lloyd, committee chair, said there was "overwhelming" evidence in favour of such restrictions.

But the decision does not mean that Wales automatically has the power to introduce such a controversial ban. The National Assembly has yet to ratify the committee's recommendations. And Wales must rely on the UK Government including clauses in its anticipated Public Health Bill, which could be announced in next week's Queen's Speech, to give Wales the powers to ban smoking in public places.

Ms Lloyd said, "Our primary recommendation is that the National Assembly should press the UK Government to give it the powers to enable it to introduce a ban on smoking in all enclosed work and public places.

"There is overwhelming evidence that it [passive smoking] is a significant health risk to non-smokers. A high percentage of people who smoke say they would like to give up and there is some evidence that a ban helps those people to do so. I hope that it will also provide an environment where fewer young people will feel pressured to smoke."

In deciding in favour of a ban, the committee rejected concerns it would have a detrimental impact on the Welsh economy and the viability of Wales's thousands of small pubs. The committee also ruled out separate smoking rooms, saying ventilation was not effective enough to remove all the harmful particles from the atmosphere.

Dai Lloyd, AM for South West Wales and a member of the Committee on Smoking in Public Places, said, "We have reached a situation in Wales where cigarette smoke is like asbestos - we wouldn't be shilly-shallying around with asbestos so we shouldn't be shilly-shallying around with cigarette smoking in buildings."

The committee's recommendation comes more than two years after the Assembly voted in favour of the principle of banning smoking in public places and follow a year of evidence-taking by the cross-party group.

It wants a ban in place within the next two to three years, but many campaigners believe Wales will be smoke-free by 2007, before the next Assembly elections.

Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, said, "We are delighted that action is being taken in Wales to provide comprehensive protection from secondhand smoke for workers.

"The Irish example shows that smoke-free legislation works best when it contains as few exemptions as possible.

"We urge the Welsh Assembly to make their legislation similarly straightforward and effective."

Dr Richard Lewis, Welsh secretary of the British Medical Association, said, "There is in- controvertible evidence that passive smoking kills and yet it is still legal for tobacco smoke to be produced in enclosed public places to which the public has access. The sooner it is banned the better. "

But the decision was met with disbelief from landlords concerned about the future of their businesses. John Price, secretary of the Licensed Victuallers' Wales, said its members will press for a meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair and could even picket the Assembly.

Tim Lord, chief executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, said, "This decision goes against what the wider Welsh public wants and we have lost the opportunity to give the public choice."

Simon Clarke, director of pro- smoking pressure group Forest, said, "Banning smoking has nothing to do with health - it's a virility symbol, an opportunity for AMs to flex their political muscle."

Pubs, clubs and restaurants should be allowed to choose a policy on smoking that best suited their business, he said.

A countdown to a nation quitting smoking

January 22, 2003 - National Assembly votes overwhelmingly in favour of seeking the powers to ban smoking in public places in Wales;

October 2003 - Wales' first smoke-free pub, The Lounge, opens in Swansea;

December 11, 2003 - Baroness Finlay of Llandaff introduces her Smoking in Public Places (Wales) Bill in the House of Lords;

March 2004 - Culture Minister Alun Pugh, who instigated the January 2003 motion to ban smoking in public places, calls on the Arts Council of Wales to discourage smoking at theatres;

March 29, 2004 - Ireland bans smoking in workplaces, including pubs;

May 11, 2004 - the Smoking in Public Places (Wales) Bill passes the House of Lords to be taken up by Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan in the House of Commons;

May 18, 2004 - Denbighshire becomes the first local authority in Wales to introduce a blanket ban on smoking, which could lead to staff caught smoking during their working day facing disciplinary action.

June 2004 - The National Assembly Committee on Smoking in Public Places is founded to examine the evidence on smoking bans.

June 2004 - The Aubrey Arms, in Bonvilston, near Cowbridge, becomes the first Brains pub in Wales to go smoke-free.

June 2004 - Dr Peter Maguire, a consultant from Northern Ireland, signs a giant prescription form for smoking bans as the British Medical Association puts more pressure on the Government at its annual conference in Llandudno.

September 22, 2004 - Carmarthen becomes the first Welsh town to ban smoking in public places in a pilot scheme;

October 15, 2004 - the Smoking in Public Places (Wales) Bill is killed as it is given no time to be heard in the Commons;

November 16, 2004 - The Government publishes its Public Health White Paper for England proposing that pubs and clubs that do not serve food will be exempt from smoking restrictions;

January 12, 2005 - First reading of a new Smoking Bill for Wales, introduced by Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan;

January 24, 2005 - Pub chain JD Wetherspoon announces all its pubs will be smoke-free from May 2006. Two Welsh pubs - the Tom Toya Lewis in Newport, Gwent, and the Central Bar in Cardiff - will go smoke-free in May 2005

March 17, 2005 - Second reading of Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan's smoking Bill. The Bill fails as it runs out of time because of the general election on May 5.

May 10, 2005 - the Committee on Smoking in Public Places recommends smoking should be banned in all work and public places in Wales within two or three years.

May 17, 2005 - Queen's Speech. Wales will learn whether the UK Government intends to introduce a Public Health Bill and whether it will give Wales the powers to ban smoking in public places

May 24/25, 2005 - National Assembly to debate the Committee on Smoking in Public Places recommendation to ban smoking

2007 - Smoking to be banned in all work and public places before the next Assembly elections?

Ban may cost #6m to enforce in first two years

LOCAL authorities will be charged with enforcing a total ban on smoking in public places in Wales.

It is estimated such a move could cost as much as #6m in the first two years of a ban.

But, in handing enforcement powers to councils, Wales will follow the same path as Ireland, where there is about 94% compliance with the ban.

In Ireland, a person smoking in a prohibited place is guilty of an offence, as is the occupier, manager or any other person in charge of the place where the contravention took place.

Environmental health officers are responsible for enforcing the Irish ban in the hospitality industry and an extra 40 officers were employed to handle the extra workload.

The Irish government also set up free phone and email lines to encourage the public to report breaches after smoking was banned in March 2004.

The National Assembly's Committee on Smoking in Public Places believes that enforcing a smoking ban in Wales should be treated like other health and safety issues are under councils' remit.

Val Lloyd, chair of the Committee on Smoking in Public Places, said, "We took the view that partial restrictions, with smoking permitted in segregated areas, would both be more difficult to enforce and ineffective in preventing damaging particles from spreading to non-smoking areas."

THE ban on smoking in Wales includes all work and public places with just a few exceptions.

In outlining its recommendations for the future of smoking in Wales, the National Assembly's Committee on Smoking in Public Places said exceptions should be made for:

Private dwellings, which may also be a place of work;

Designated areas in long-stay hospital units;

Designated areas in residential and nursing homes;

Designated areas of prisons;

Designated bedrooms or suites in hotels and guest houses, which are occupied solely by a smoker or with others who consent to their smoking, in accordance with the smoking policies of management.

But the committee said that employers should not be able to require non-smokers to service or clean such designated areas.

It also wants the tourism and hospitality industries to prepare for the introduction of a ban by promoting the benefits of smoke- free atmospheres in a bid to attract more non-smoking customers.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, who last year introduced a Private Member's Bill in the House of Lords to give Wales the powers to ban smoking, said, "This means that the people who are too old or infirm to benefit from smoke-free environments will still be allowed to smoke without damaging the health of those who are young and fit enough to be damaged."

Delegates at the CSP event last year passed a motion calling for the professional body to support the campaign to ban smoking in public places.

Philippa Ford, CSP policy officer for Wales, said, "A ban would be a significant advantage to the population as a whole as the health risks associated with passive smoking would be virtually removed.

"Exposure to other people's tobacco smoke can reduce lung function in adults with no previous respiratory problems and can be especially dangerous for people with asthma.

"Physiotherapists who specialise in respiratory care see the effects of smoking on a daily basis - 50% of their workloads involve seeing patients with emphysema and other illnesses related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is currently incurable."

The CSP's annual representatives' conference will be held at the Thistle Hotel, in Cardiff, on Friday and Saturday.